FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed towards purification of particulate matter in ambient air using a modular cyclone separation unit retrofitted with Internet of Things (loT) based air quality monitoring system connected with feedback controls for enhanced separation efficiency. More particularly, the present invention is directed to an assembly of cyclone separators arranged in a series and parallel combination such that larger volumes of ambient air are treated at higher efficiencies.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Cyclone separators, either as single unit or multiple units are known to work on the principle of tangential entry of the gas stream into the equipment resulting in centrifugal force at high inlet velocities, causing separation of the solids from the gas stream. The separation efficiency is inversely proportional to the diameter of the cyclone chamber, hence small diameter cyclones are required to remove particulate matter less than 2.5 pm. However, smaller size cyclones are not conducive to treat large volumes such as ambient air. Previously described cyclone separator arrangements are designed for specific throughput ranges and particle sizes. Use of multiple cyclones in parallel has been shown in US patent application number 20120070347A1, and US Patent number 7494523B2. Those designs are meant for removal of particulate solids from single sources such as a coal power plant. It is problematic in this case as the volume of air to be cleaned and the amounts of particulate solids to be removed are higher. Prior to this disclosure, there is no equipment available that utilizes multiple small diameter cyclones to improve particulate matter removal and enhances the volume of air purified.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The following presents a simplified summary of the subject matter in order to provide a basic understanding of some of the aspects of subject matter embodiments. This summary is not an extensive overview of the subject matter. It is not intended to identify key/critical elements of the embodiments or to delineate the scope of the subject matter. Its sole purpose to present some concepts of the subject matter in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.

With the above discussion in mind, it is an object of the invention to provide enhanced removal of particulate matter using a combination of multiple cyclone separators, arranged in series and parallel combination.

More particularly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a cyclone separator assembly for use in separating particulate matter from ambient air and also treat large volumes of polluted ambient air streams, while providing for no new infrastructure like land and electricity as it leverages existing infrastructure, minimum energy requirements, adaptability and deploy-ability for ambient variations and locations, and environment sustainability without usage of water or replaceable filters.

Another object of the invention is to provide a multi-cyclone arrangement that is attached to a feedback control-based system consisting of a standard air flow measurement device, particulate matter sensors, and Internet of things (loT) which are used to monitor the performance of the arrangement from remote locations and allows for dynamic changes to the series/parallel arrangement of the cyclone. The control systems are connected to the cyclone separators, wherein the feedback controllers control the speed of the suction pump that suctions the input ambient air, wherein the control system dynamically changes series-parallel arrangement of the cyclone separators based on quality of the input ambient air.

It is yet further object of the invention to provide the cyclone separator assembly placed in an enclosure and mounted on a rail car, so that the separation process is achieved both in a stationary and dynamic modes (while the rail car is moving). In such an arrangement, high air velocities allow for higher particulate matter removal efficiencies.

In the first embodiment, a modular cyclone separation unit consists of at least eight cyclones arranged in parallel to remove particulate matter and droplets from ambient air, all of which have a tangential inlet opening, vertical outlet in the bottom for collection of particulate matter and droplets. The cleaned air is removed from the modular unit at the top. All the tangential inlets for the cyclones in parallel are connected via a rectangular pipe of desired dimensions. The cyclone separators are located close to each other. Input ambient air enters the modular unit via a vertical pipe, through the rectangular horizontal pipe and vertical pipe attached to a suction pump, and the input ambient air is distributed among the cyclone separators at the tangential inlets. The size of the tangential inlet and the cyclone separator are designed in such a way that under various air velocities, the percent particulate matter removal is significantly high. Each cyclone separator is paired to another cyclone separator in such a way that the cleaned exhaust gases from one cyclone separator to another cyclone separator is in a series combination. The cyclone separators connected in series and parallel combination allows for larger volumes of ambient air to be treated at greater efficiency. Branch pipes transfer the ambient air containing the particulate matter and carrier air to the cyclone separator, wherein the particulate matter is removed from the carrier air via the principle of centrifugal action. It should be noted that the cyclone separators that are placed sequentially to each other and operating in parallel do not always have to be of the same overall dimension.

In the second embodiment, the cyclone separator assembly is mounted on a rail car. The rail car can be on stationary mode or in motion, depending on the required air velocity and location at which the ambient air needs to be cleaned. The modular unit is retrofitted with a feedback control unit consisting of Internet of things (loT) based air quality monitoring system for enhanced monitoring of the air quality and PM concentrations. The modular unit is designed such that the unit can adapt automatically to changes in ambient conditions. In this embodiment, the centrifugal force is increased by reducing diameter of each cyclone separator and increasing residence time by increasing height of cone of each cyclone separator. In this embodiment, the air purification device further comprises intelligent feedback modules that configures itself based on parameters in the input ambient air, wherein if concentration of the ambient air, detected using particulate matter sensors, is equal to or more than two times the average input particulate concentration, then the cyclone separators are connected in series for optimum performance. In this embodiment, the deployable system automatically decides amount of time the air purification device stays at a location depending on a threshold set in the program. The design of this air purification unit is optimized for larger air volumes and minimal pressure drop with cyclones arranged in parallel and series, allowing for minimized use of components and better performance.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS

The following drawings are illustrative of particular examples for enabling systems and methods of the present disclosure, are descriptive of some of the methods and mechanism, and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. The drawings are not to scale (unless so stated) and are intended for use in conjunction with the explanations in the following detailed description.

FIG.l shows a first embodiment of the air purification device in which eight cyclones are arranged in a parallel arrangement, linearly next to one another and a tangential inlet to the cyclone is controlled using a single rectangular pipe.

FIG. 2A shows a top view of the first embodiment of the air purification device in which eight cyclones are arranged in a parallel arrangement, linearly next to one another and the tangential inlet to the cyclone is controlled using a single rectangular pipe.

FIG. 2B shows a top view of a sub-embodiment of the first embodiment of the air purification device that illustrates multiple cyclones in parallel and in series arrangement.

FIG. 3 shows a front view of a second embodiment of the of the modular air purification device consisting of eight cyclones arranged sequentially and mounted on a rail car.

FIG. 4 shows a feedback control loop system for the intelligent air purification system associated with the air purification device.

FIG. 5 shows a block diagram showing the processes executed by the air purification device to purify the input ambient air based on comparison between PM ratio and corresponding thresholds. FIG. 6 shows a summarized method flow diagram that illustrates method steps performed by the air purification device to purify the input ambient air based on descriptions of embodiments in FIGS. 1-5.

Persons skilled in the art will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and may represent both hardware and software components of the system. Further, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figure may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. Throughout the drawings, it should be noted that like reference numbers are used to depict the same or similar elements, features, and structures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Exemplary embodiments now will be described. The disclosure may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey its scope to those skilled in the art. The terminology used in the detailed description of the exemplary embodiments illustrated in the accompanying drawings is not intended to be limiting. In the drawings, like numbers refer to like elements.

As shown in FIGS. 1-4, in a general arrangement one or more cyclone separators 1-8 and 27-34, as shown in FIG. 2B, are arranged in a series-parallel arrangement on a frame 55 as shown in FIG. 3, wherein increasing air velocity of input ambient air into an outer vortex 54 of each cyclone separator 1-8 and 27-34 generates a centrifugal force, which increases efficiency of separation of particulate matter from the input ambient air. Furthermore, in connection with the general working of the air purification device 50, the cleaned air is removed from the air purification device 50 at the top. All the tangential inlets 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, and 16 as shown in FIG. 1 for the cyclone separators 1-8 and 27-34 in parallel are connected via a horizontal rectangular pipe 25 of user defined dimensions. The cyclone separators 1-8 or 27-34 are located close to each other. Input ambient air enters the air purification device 50 via a vertical pipe 26, through the horizontal rectangular pipe 25 and vertical pipe 42 attached to a suction pump 41, and the input ambient air is distributed among the cyclone separators 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 at the tangential inlets 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, and 16.

The size of each tangential inlet 9-16 and cyclone separator 1-8 are designed in such a way that under various air velocities, the percent particulate matter removal is significantly high. Each cyclone separator 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 is paired to another cyclone separator 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, and 34 in such a way, for example, that the cleaned exhaust gases from one cyclone separator 1 to another cyclone separator 27 is in a series combination. The cyclone separators 1-8 and 27-34 connected in series and parallel combination allow for larger volumes of ambient air to be treated at greater efficiency. Branch of vertical pipes 26 and horizontal pipes 25 transfer the ambient air containing the particulate matter and carrier air to the cyclone separator 1-8 and 27- 34, where the particulate matter is removed from the carrier air via the principle of centrifugal action. It should be noted that the cyclone separators 1-8 and 27-34 that are placed sequentially to each other and operating in parallel do not always have to be of the same overall dimension.

The basic principle of the air purification device 50 is shown in FIG. 1. In FIG. 1, eight cyclone separators 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 are arranged sequentially for separating particulate matter from a stream of input ambient air consisting of particulate solids and carrier air from the ambient. In this design, the input ambient air enters the arrangement of cyclone separators 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 through a branch of vertical pipes 26 and horizontal pipes 25, shown in FIG. 1 as section A-B. The stream of input ambient air enters each cyclone separator 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 via tangential inlets 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, and 16 respectively. The intake opening of each cyclone separator 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 with respect to the branch of the horizontal rectangular pipe 25 is arranged in such a way that the cyclone separators 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 are parallel to each other, allowing for processing large volume of polluted ambient air. The separated particulate matter is removed from the ambient air via centrifugal action and deposited out of the cyclone separators 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, or 8 via the openings at the bottom 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, and 24 respectively. The cleaned gas flow out of each unit of the cyclone separators 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, or 8 as depicted by the arrow in FIG. 1. The branch of vertical pipe 26, and horizontal pipes 25, shown in FIG. 1 as Section A-B, are to be attached to a suction pump 41 allowing for the stream of polluted air to be cleaned in this arrangement. Referring to FIGS. 2A and 2B, FIG. 2A depicts a top view of the illustrative embodiment of the air purification device 50 shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2B shows a top view of a sub-embodiment of the first embodiment of the air purification device 50 that illustrates multiple cyclones in parallel and in series arrangement. According to FIG. 2A, another row of eight cyclone separators 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, and 34, are arranged sequentially to each other. Ambient air enters the first row of eight cyclone separators 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8, through a branch of vertical pipe 26 and horizontal pipe 25, as shown in FIG. 1 as Section A-B. The cleaned gas from the first row of eight cyclone separators 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8, is removed from the top and enters the second row of eight cyclone separators 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, and 34, via a series of pipes depicted in FIG. 2 as 35. The branch of pipes connecting cyclone separators like 1 and 27, via the connection 35, similar to the design for the remaining seven cyclone separator connections between the first and second row. Based on FIGS. 1-6, the cyclone separators 1-8 and 27-34 are arranged in a series-parallel on a frame 55, where increasing 601 air velocity of input ambient air into an outer vortex of each cyclone separator 1-8 and 27-34 results in a high centrifugal force, which increases efficiency of separation of particulate matter from input ambient air.

FIG. 2B shows multiple cyclones in parallel and in series arrangement as an embodiment of the air purification device 50. Here, a cluster of cyclone separators la, 2a, 3a, and 4a form a parallel connection to each other. Similarly, another adjacently positioned cluster of cyclone separators 27a, 28a, 29a, and 30a also form a parallel connection to each other. Therefore, the cluster of parallel cyclone separators la, 2a, 3a, and 4a are connected in series with the cluster of parallel cyclone separators 27a, 28a, 29a, and 30a. Furthermore, a gaseous exchange unit 47 is positioned at output of the air purification unit 50, where the gaseous exchange unit 47 avoids additional pressure drop for the air path and configuration of the gaseous exchange unit 47 is dependent on detection of gaseous pollution.

FIG. 3 shows the second embodiment of the air purification device 50 where an arrangement of eight cyclone separators 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 is mounted on flat wagon a rail car 36 and 37. This air purification device 50 is based on the same arrangement as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, and comprises of cyclone separators 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 arranged in a series-parallel arrangement. According to the present air purification device 50, it is possible to develop a smart air purification device 50 that efficiently removes particulate matter less than 2.5pm and simultaneously process significant large volumes of conveyed air streams. In an embodiment, the rail car 36 and 37 is used in a stationary or mobile mode, depending on the required air velocity and location at which the input ambient air needs to be cleaned. The rail car 36 and 37 is supported by four wheels 43, 44, 45, and 46, and is used to test the modular air purification device 50 at higher air velocities.

As noted in the summary of the invention, the air stream enters each cyclone separator 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, or 8 via the tangential inlets 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, and 16. The intake opening of each cyclone separator 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, or 8 with respect to the branches 25 and 26, Section A-B, is arranged in such a way that the cyclone separators 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 are parallel to each other, allowing for processing large volume of polluted input ambient air. The input ambient air enters the modular air purification device 50 via branches 25 and 26, section A-B, through vertical pipe 42, due to suction action of a suction pump 41. The modular air purification device 50 is fitted with a feedback control system 39 and 40, that consists of standard air flow meters to measure inlet and exit air flow rates and velocities, particulate matter sensors and Internet of Things (loT) nodes. Based on FIGS. 1-6, the feedback control system 39 and 40 is arranged such that the speed of the suction pump 41 is controlled 602 from remote locations and the air purification device 50 dynamically changes 603 to a desired series-parallel arrangement that allows for enhanced performance.

In the arrangement shown in FIG. 4, the control system 52 automatically configures based on parameters in the input ambient air, wherein if concentration of the is equal to or more than twice the average input PM concentration, then the cyclone separators, for example, 1, 2, and 3 as shown, are connected in series for optimum performance. In an embodiment, direction of input ambient air is adjusted automatically in the direction of wind by one of onboard computers and by a central control 53 to extract maximum advantage of natural wind velocity. The central control 53 comprises an inlet controller unit 39 and an outlet controller unit 40, wherein both controllers 39 and 40 comprise PM sensor, an air flow meter, and a dedicated controller. Here, the PM comprises, for example, PMio and PM2.5 from ambient air. In an embodiment, a deployable system 56 is mounted on the flat wagon on the rails 36 and 37 that controls movement of the air purification device along the rails 36 and 37 based on the input ambient air quality. The deployable system 56 automatically decides amount of time the air purification device stays at a location depending on a threshold that is set in a program.

The controller units 39 and 40 are retrofitted to the air purification unit 50 and comprises of Internet of things (loT) based air quality monitoring system for enhanced monitoring of the air quality and PM concentrations, where the air purification unit 50 adapts automatically to changes in ambient conditions. The air purification unit 50 self-configures in the series-parallel arrangement based on parameters in the input ambient air and if concentration of the input ambient air, detected using a set of PM sensors, is equal to or more than two times the average input particulate concentration, then the cyclone separators 1-8 or 27-34 are connected in series for optimum performance. In other words, the control controller units 39 and 40 control the speed of a suction pump 41 that suctions the input ambient air, wherein the control units 39 and 40 dynamically change the series-parallel arrangement of the cyclone separators 1-8 and 27-34 based on quality of the input ambient air. When the input air PM concentration is higher than twice the average input PM concentration, the input controller 39 generates a signal that opens the valve located at 34 shown in FIG. 2A, thereby allowing for a series arrangement. This ensures higher particulate solids removal. The outlet controller 40 also functions to check air quality of the cleaned air that is treated from the input ambient air. The cleaned air from the air purification unit 50 is released in the ambient condition, inside one of the rail 36 and 37 compartments, or an enclosed space.

FIG. 5 shows a block diagram showing the processes executed by the air purification device 50 to purify the input ambient air based on comparison between PM ratio and corresponding thresholds. If ambient air quality is higher than threshold 501, then the time duration is decided 502 the rail 36 and 37 track movements are controlled 503. If the PM 2.5 ratio is higher than the threshold 504, then a command is sent to adjust motor speed and CFM 505 and another command is sent to increase series connections of cyclone separators 506. If the PM 10 ratio is higher than threshold 507, then a command is sent to adjust motor speed and CFM 508 and another command is sent to reduce series connection and make parallel connection of cyclone separators 509.

Based on FIGS. 1-5, the input ambient air enters the air purification device 50 via a vertical pipe 26, through the rectangular horizontal pipe 25 and vertical pipe 42 attached to a suction pump 41, and the input ambient air is distributed among the cyclone separators 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 at the tangential inlet openings 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, and 16. The air purification device 50 is retrofitted with a feedback control unit consisting of Internet of things (loT) based air quality monitoring system 39 and 40 for enhanced monitoring of the air quality and PM concentrations. The cyclone separators 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 are paired to another set of cyclones 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, and 34 in such a manner that the cleaned exhaust gases from cyclone 1 enters cyclone 26 in a series combination. The entire unit is mounted on a rail car 36 and 37 on wheels 43, 44, 45, and 46. The cyclone separators 1-8 and 27-34 connected in series and parallel combination allows for larger volumes of ambient air to be treated at greater efficiency. The controller units 39 and 40 are designed to adapt automatically to changes in ambient conditions.

To summarize, this air purification device 50 is a mobile system with the capability to adapt automatically to ambient conditions. The air purification device 50 comprises of multiple cyclone separator 1-8 and 27-34, in-built sensors and feedback system and is modular, scalable for large volume and coverage. The air purification device 50 has no degradation of urban aesthetics and has low Capex and Opex with energy efficiency and automation. The air purification device 50 is an intelligent system equipped with loT and feedback controls and requires no consumables or parts needing frequent replacements. The air purification device 50 performs efficient air pollution control, efficient and centralized operational and maintenance control, and is upgradable, scalable, and sustainable.

Although the invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments, this description is not meant to be construed in a limiting sense. Various modifications of the disclosed embodiments, as well as alternate embodiments of the invention, will become apparent to persons skilled in the art upon reference to the description of the invention. It is therefore, contemplated that such modifications can be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention as defined.